


Only Fools Rush In

by louisgrindsonharry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Bottom Harry, Bottom Louis, Fluff, I promise, M/M, Pining, Sexual Tension, Show Choir AU, Smut, Student teacher Harry, Teacher Louis, Top Harry, Top Louis, sorry for the tags, there will be smut in future chapters, they share that, this is about H and L
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-03-21 18:11:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3701669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisgrindsonharry/pseuds/louisgrindsonharry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is the show choir teacher in Manchester, and Harry is his student teacher for a year. Together, they experience two shows, a national competition, a wedding, a godchild, and the love of a lifetime.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I.

**Author's Note:**

> I based this off the high school I graduated from, which was Manchester High, so that's where the name comes from. To make things easier, the school is also located in Manchester, England.

    “You want me to _what_?” Louis asked.

His boss sighed and lowered his glasses. “He really wants to do his student teaching here, and he comes with a great resume, Louis. He-”

     “No, that part is fine. The part about him running the spring show, however, is not fine. I’ve been here for three years, and you want me to hand the biggest show of the year over to a student teacher? The show that gets us to nationals? You want to risk all of that?” Louis asked.

     “He wouldn’t be running it alone. You would obviously be there. Just let him take the reins on it if he does well during the winter show and the rest of the year. Your name will still be on this. You’re still in charge. You’ve worked your arse off to get here and I’m not trying to dismiss that, nor am I trying to give it away. But this is an amazing opportunity for him, so think about it, okay?” The principal asked.

     Louis sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Okay. I’m fine with him doing his intern here; I’d actually really love to help someone like that. Just give me time to think about the spring show?”

     “Of course. It’s all up to you; that was just my suggestion. He’ll be here next week to sign all of the paper work. Come meet him then.”

     “I will. Thanks,” Louis said, before he got up and left the school, skin immediately getting sweaty as he walked outside and to his car.

     Louis really enjoyed summer time. He loved his job more than anything, but there was still nothing like summer break, trips to the beach with his group of close-knit friends, and taking his siblings out to spoil them.

     When he’d gotten the call that his boss wanted to see him two weeks before fall term started, he was nervous, and he spent days wondering what it could be about. When he finally went in to the school, his nerves dissipated when he was told the school had chosen a uni grad that wanted to do his year of student teaching at Manchester. He was excited, now that he’d been teaching for a few years, to help someone else learn the ropes. And this was the fucking school of all schools to intern at. Louis considered himself the luckiest person in the world to have his job.

    He was a graduate from Manchester himself, star student in the show choir. He had a great bond with his teacher, and he had no trouble deciding that was what he wanted to do with his life. He’d had the best time traveling, doing competitions and winning nationals three of his four years there. When he graduated from uni, his old teacher was finishing his last year before he retired. The spot was highly coveted, teachers from schools all over vying for the opportunity to teach the best school there was. Louis didn’t think he stood a chance when he sent in his application, but his principal miraculously called him in for an interview, and spewed some shit about chances and believing in Louis, and he got the job. He’d taken them to nationals all three of his years, there, and won twice. It wasn’t something he was willing to let slide this year, just because he had a student teacher by his side.

     Instead of driving to his house, Louis somehow ended up at Liam and Sophia’s. He heard them around back with Spencer, so he walked around and let himself in through the gate. “Uncle Louis!” Spencer yelled.

     “Spenc!” Louis grinned, bending down as the little girl wrapped her arms around Louis’ neck, and he picked her up. “How’s my favorite girl?”

     “Good!” She grinned. “Daddy took me to the park today because mommy wasn’t feeling well so we played and we got ice cream after and I saw my friend Melissa there and-”

   She kept telling Louis about her day as he carried her over to Liam and Sophia, sighing as he sat down on the chair. “Spencer, why don’t you go play, babe?” Liam said.

     “Okay,” She grinned, jumping off Louis’ lap and running over to her sandbox.

     “You feeling alright love? You were sick again?” Louis asked, looking at Sophia, eyes concerned.

     “Yeah I’m fine,” Sophia smiled, giving Liam a look.

     “What?” Louis asked.

     “Soph’s pregnant again,” Liam said quietly.

     “No fucking way!” Louis gasped, standing up.

     “Shh,” Liam laughed. “We haven’t told Spence yet.”

     “When are you due?” Louis asked.

     “Mid-May,” Sophia smiled.

    “That’s fucking awesome guys, congrats. I’m so happy for you. I was wondering when you’d have another one! Spence will be almost six then,” Louis said.

     “Yeah, well Spencer was a bit of a surprise. This one wasn’t,” Sophia sighed.

     “Believe me, I know,” Louis smiled, watching Spencer play. “She’s still the best thing that’s ever happened to me, let alone the both of you.”

     “Look at you, going all soft for your goddaughter,” Liam joked.

     “Mate, I’ve been soft for her since I held her at the hospital when she was an hour old,” Louis said. “Not even ashamed to admit it.”

     Liam and Sophia both hummed in affirmation as they watched their daughter playing with her toys, enjoying the hot summer day. “What did your boss want, Lou?” Liam asked.

     “Oh shit! Right, that’s why I came over here. I’m getting a student teacher this year. This is all he needs to get his degree. They want me to let him do the spring show though and I’m hesitant. Like, this is the biggest show choir in the country and I pride myself for the last three years, and I don’t want to mess it up. Or I don’t want _him_ to mess it up,” Louis sighed.

     “Why do they want him to do the spring show?” Liam asked.

     “They think it’ll be a better learning experience. He’s supposed to help me out with the winter show and I’m supposed to just like, sit in the background while he does the spring show,” Louis groaned. “I mean, I’m sure he’ll be fine, and if I think he’s incompetent by then, I sure as hell won’t let him do it. I just don’t like not being in control.”

    “I know love, but this could be good for you,” Sophia said. “It’ll be amazing to help someone else and you’re such a great person for the job. You do it well, and you’d be great to learn from. He’s lucky.”

     “Thanks, love,” Louis smiled. “I’m sure it’ll be alright. It’ll probably be fun, too.”

     “When do you meet him?” Liam asked.

     “Next week. Fuck, I can’t believe the summer’s almost over,” Louis sighed.

     “I can’t believe I’ll have an empty house during the day,” Sophia laughed. “My husband will be at work and my daughter will be at pre-school.”

     “Lots of time to grow that baby,” Louis grinned.

     “Exactly,” Sophia grinned.

     “I’d better get going. I’ve got to get flyers printed for auditions, and start picking songs for the winter show,” Louis groaned.

     Liam nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

     “Yeah, bye mate. By, Soph. Spencer, come here love, I have to leave!” Louis called.

     Spencer popped her head up and came running over to Louis, giving him another big hug. “Are you still taking me out for ice cream next week?” She asked.

     “Wouldn’t miss it for the world! You be good and listen to your parents, okay?” He asked.

     She nodded her head seriously. “Promise.”

     “That’s my girl,” Louis grinned, kissing her forehead before he put her down.

     “Bye, guys!”

     “Bye, Louis!” They called after him as he walked back to his car.

     Louis spent the drive to his flat with the windows down and the music loud, definitely not letting himself over think this whole student-teacher thing. It wasn’t worth his time to worry about it.

     When he got to his flat, he parked the car and took the elevator up, far too hot and lazy to use the stairs today. He let out a soft sigh of relief when he walked in and was welcomed by cold air. He grabbed his laptop and sat on the couch, pulling up his work-in-progress flyer.

     The choir had lost some of its best singers when they graduated last year, and Louis was a bit overwhelmed trying to replace them. Those who had been in the show choir for the previous few years were great, but not as many people wee auditioning any more. He needed to make this fun, exciting, and something that people wanted to do. He needed more singers, and he needed to win nationals this year. It was his own personal goal. When he felt satisfied with the flyer, he sent it to his work email so he could print copies next week and have them all over the school for the first day.

     He spent the rest of his day picking out songs, going through old songs he’d previously had his students do, and one’s he’d performed when he was a student. He came up with different medley’s and started thinking of choreography, trying to decide which would be best for the winter show, and what he potentially might want for the spring show, which they would take to competition, and hopefully nationals.

     When his brain was fried, he grabbed old Chinese take out and took it to his room, picking up where he left off on Netflix, watching Chopped as he ate his cold food and finally fell asleep.

 

*

 

    Five days later, Louis was planning to go meet his student teacher, and he was more nervous that he thought he would be. He didn’t have any reason to be, other than the fact that he had no idea who or what to expect, and he’d be spending the next ten plus months with this person. They had to plan classes together, and do rehearsals, and planning, and he didn’t put that much thought into it before.

   But now he was dressing to impress who ever this was, maybe aiming for an air of intimidation. After all, this was very important to him.

    He got to the school early and went to his classroom, printing off flyers and hanging them all round the school, silently praying that auditions would be full the first week of school. When he’d worked himself up enough to be stressed out again, he made his way back to his classroom, stopping when he saw the principal in there with a tall man who could definitely _not_ be his student teacher. He looked maybe even younger than Louis had when he started this job, and he was dressed in black jeans, a white button down and a black vest. He was tall with long messy hair falling in curls down to his shoulders and Louis was absolutely fucked.

    “Louis, there you are!” Principal Matthews said.

    “Hi! Sorry, I was putting up flyers,” Louis said, tearing his eyes away from the tall man who was smiling at him and he had _dimples_ for fuck’s sake.

    “No worries! This is Harry Styles, your new student teacher for the year. I’ve just showed him around the school and he’s signed his paperwork. I wanted to give you time to get to know each other, and maybe you could show him around the chorus room and the stage. I’ll be in my office if you need me,” The principal said, before he walked out of the room and left Louis alone with this gorgeous boy, and never in a million years did Louis see this coming.

   “Hi, I’m Harry,” He said with a smile and a low voice.

   “Hey, mate, I’m Louis,” He said, forcing his voice to be cool as he mentally tried to figure out how he was going to make it through almost a year with Harry Styles by his side.

   “I’m not going to lie, I’m really nervous,” Harry said.

   “No need to be nervous! This is the best part of getting your degree. It’s the most fun,” Louis said. Harry grinned at him and his green eyes sparkled and Louis felt an annoying wave of attraction go through his body. “Right, well, this is the class room,” Louis said, showing Harry the risers, and the closet with the music books and podiums. “The auditorium is this way,” Louis said, holing the door open for Harry to follow him.

    They walked across the hall and Louis opened the door to the backstage area, and led Harry around. “This is where we’ll be during the performances. Outfits are lined up back here with names on them, and we help when the students need to do wardrobe changes. We also spend a lit of time working on the set and props and stuff,” Louis said, pointing things out as they passed them. “The light and sound booth is up there. Two of the drama production students will be up there.”

    Harry nodded after each thing Louis told him, silently taking it all in.

    Louis bit his bottom lip as he opened the door and led Harry back into the chorus room. “Do you have any questions?”

    “Um,” Harry said, chewing on his lip. “How exactly is this going to work? They didn’t say much about it at school; they said every person that you intern with is different. So I don’t really know what to expect?”

     “Yeah, okay. So, we have two major concerts a year. The winter concert is first; that’s what we’ll spend the first part of the year working on. That’s mostly for fun, and to get to know each other and how everyone works together and stuff. Then after Christmas break, we start preparing for the spring concert. That’s our biggest event every year. That’s what we use to compete and to get to nationals. So that’s more stressful and more important. But it’s also more fun because we get to travel to do it,” Louis said. “Everything day to day is pretty chill though. This is one of the most fun classes in the school, because they just get to sing and dance. Right now, we have three show choir classes. I’m really hoping we get more year nines auditioning next week, then we can split them and have a fourth class. Classes are two and a half hours long, and we have two classes a day; that’s different from anyone else in the school, so their schedules are weird. The rest of free time is usually spend figuring out costumes and stuff like that.”

     “Wow, that sounds intense,” Harry laughed.

     Louis smiled and shrugged. “It is, but it’s fun though. I have the best job in the world, and I’m sure you’ll grown to love it.”

     “How long have you been teaching here?” Harry asked.

     “This will be my fourth year,” Louis smiled.

     Harry smiled and ducked his head down. “It seems like you like it.”

   “I really do. There’s honestly nowhere else I’d rather be. I graduated from here, and it’s been my dream to teach here, and I’m so lucky that I get to do that,” Louis grinned.

     “So how do you plan for classes? Like this is obviously different from other classes, but how do you decided what they do every day, and which songs they sing, the choreography, and stuff like that?” Harry questioned.

     “It’s a lot more relaxed than other classes. I’ve spent the past few weeks coming up with different medleys and songs for them to sing. I’ll ask for their input- and yours too- and we’ll decide within the first few weeks which they want to do. We’ll spend the first few days having everyone come up and sing a few bars so we can place everyone, then just getting to know each other. That’s really important here, because people will have dancing partners, and they’ll be singing different parts together, so they need to know and be comfortable with everyone. You’ll get the hang of it too,” Louis smiled. “Don’t stress about it. You’ll pick it up, and that’s why you’re here for a year- to learn!”

     “Sorry,” Harry laughed. “I’m just a bit intimidated by it all. I’m really young, and it’s weird that I’ll be teaching people just a few years younger than me. It didn’t seem real until now. I took classes through the summers so I graduated early.”

     “No way! So did I. Was a bit ambitious,” Louis laughed. “I was young too and it was scary. But it all worked out great, and the kids actually like having a younger teacher, because they connect easier, and it’s easier to open up about stuff.”

     “Yeah?” Harry asked, hope filling his voice and face.

     Louis nodded reassuringly. “I’m sure you’ll be great. It’ll be a fun year.”

     Harry grinned and nodded. “It will be.”

     “Any other questions?” Louis asked.

     “I don’t think so,” Harry said.

     “Well let me give you my number in case you think of any,” Louis smiled softly. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together in and out of school, so it’s probably for the best anyway.”

     “Okay,” Harry grinned, handing Louis his phone and they exchanged numbers.

     “Text if you have any questions at all, okay?” Louis insisted.

     “I will,” Harry promised. “Thanks, Louis.”

     “No problem,” Louis grinned.  “I’ll see you next week for classes!”

     “Bye,” Harry waved as he walked out the door and Louis groaned as he sat down in his chair.

     He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Liam.

     _I am so fucked._

*

 

     Louis spent three days locked in his flat, trying to perfect his different pieces for the kids, and trying not to think about Harry and the way he was so nervous, but so excited. He desperately tried and magnificently failed at not thinking about his long curly hair and deep green eyes that actually fucking sparkled, and his dimples and his smile and he finally broke down on day four and called Liam.

     “How am I supposed to work with the most attractive person I’ve ever seen, Liam? How am I supposed to see him every day and before classes and after classes and on breaks and how am I supposed to ignore that fact that I’m so fucking attracted to him that I actually want to cry.  Why the hell did they give me a student teacher who is like fucking Adonis reincarnated?” Louis complained.

     Liam laughed and waited until Louis was done before he spoke. “First of all, breathe. Second of all, why don’t you just come over now; Spencer just went down for a nap so we can talk until she wakes up, and you take her out for ice cream.”

     “Fine,” Louis sighed dramatically. “I’ll be over in ten.”

     When Louis got to Liam’s house, he walked in quietly and sulked on the couch until Liam walked in. “I don’t understand,” Louis whined.

     “Mate, you should probably just go out and pull. Get your mind off it,” Liam said. “When was the last time you got laid anyway? Before summer hols?”

     “No,” Louis defended. “Maybe.”

     “Come on, Lou. It’ll be good for you,” Liam encouraged.

     “I don’t want to just go to a club and pull a random guy. It gets boring. That’s what uni was for. I want a real relationship. Like what you and Soph have. I wanna be married and-”

     “And have lots of kids and three pets, Lou, I know,” Liam said. “You can’t date Harry though, so get that out of your head.”

     “I’m _trying_ to get it out of my head, Li!” Louis argued.

     “I know, mate,” Liam said. “I don’t know what else to tell you. You’re going to be around him a lot for the next ten months, so you’ve got to figure something out.”

     “I know,” Louis sighed. “Just professional. I can do this.”

     “I know you can,” Liam nodded. “Just take it one day at a time.”

     “I will,” Louis agreed. “Thanks.”

     “I wasn’t any help, but you’re welcome,” Liam laughed.

     “Uncle Louis?” They both heard from the doorway, looking over to see Spencer standing there.

     “Hi, love,” Louis grinned, holding his arms out so she could walk into them.

     “Can we go get ice cream now?” She asked.

     “You didn’t have your nap, love,” Liam said.

     “But daddy,” She whined. “Uncle Louis is here!”

     “Yeah daddy, Uncle Louis is here!” Louis whined, looking pleadingly at Liam.

     “Oh fine,” He sighed.  “Go on.”

     “Yay!” Spencer clapped.

     “Go get your shoes,” Louis nodded to her door.

     She ran off and Louis shook his head with a fond smile. “Don’t be too late,” Liam said.

     “Nope, just going to hype her up on sugar and send her back here for you to take care of,” Louis grinned.

     Liam rolled his eyes as Spencer walked out with her shoes on. “I’m ready!”

     “Me too!” Louis grinned. “Let’s go.”

     He quickly strapped Spencer into her booster seat, and then got into the drivers seat. “Ice cream stand at the park?” He asked.

     “Yes!” Spencer exclaimed.

     “Off we go!” Louis grinned, pulling out of the driveway.

     The drive was anything but quiet as Spencer told Louis all about her day and the things she’d done with her friends. She talked about how excited she was for school to start, and how much fun she would have with her friends.

     Louis just nodded as she talked to him, smiling as he thought of how she would have no problems once school started. She was too outgoing to not make any new friends, and she was so sweet and kind that everyone would love her. His heart clenched at how much he loved his goddaughter and how fast she was growing; he could still remember the day she was born, how Liam and Sophia were so young and scared at the time, and he offered himself up completely to them. He fell in love with her right away, but he never imagined that five years later, she would feel like a daughter to him.

     He was pulled out of his thoughts and memories as he pulled into the park, and Spencer clapped her hands with excitement. He parked the car and turned it off, going around to take her out of her booster seat. “Hold my hand in the parking lot,” He said, reaching down for her hand. She smiled and gripped it tightly.

     “Can I get a strawberry ice cream cone?” She asked.

     “You can get whatever you want, love,” Louis smiled.

     Spencer cheered with excitement and pulled Louis hand as she walked quicker over to the ice cream stand. “Hello,” She smiled at the man behind the stand.

     “Hello!” He grinned at her. “What can I get you today?”

     “A strawberry ice cream cone, please,” she said.

     “Would you like sprinkles?” He asked.

     “Yes!” Spencer grinned.

     Louis smiled and shook his head fondly at her. “I’ll have a chocolate,” He said.

     “Ew! Chocolate is yucky, Uncle Louis,” Spencer said.

     Louis gasped in mock offence. “Chocolate is everyone’s favorite, little lady!”

     She giggled and shook her head. “Not mine! Strawberry’s my favorite.”

     “Well, I guess it’s alright that we like different things,” Louis smiled, paying the man for their cones, and taking them, handing one down to Spencer.

     She took it and held Louis’ hand as he led her, now distracted with her ice cream cone. He sat on a bench and pulled her up next to him. They sat there quietly, talking about people and animals they saw, some dogs on leashes, and other birds flying round the park. It was a busy day, buzzing with people enjoying their final days of summer. They were nearly done with their cones when Louis heard a familiar voice call his name.

     “Louis?”

     He turned his head around to see Harry standing there with a grin on his face, and a leash in his hand; at the end was a small Pomeranian. “Harry! Hi.”

     “I thought that was you,” Harry said, walking off the path and over to the bench.

     “Puppy!” Spencer grinned, jumping off the bench to go pet the dog Harry was walking.

     “Didn’t know you had a dog, mate,” Louis said.

     “Not mine,” Harry laughed. “A friend of mine and his fiancé are out of town for the day so I’m just walking their dog.”

     “Cool,” Louis nodded. He looked over Harry, who looked completely different than the last time he saw him. He was definitely more relaxed, his clothes and hair were casual, and he looked ridiculously happy. Louis wanted to kiss him right then and there.

     “Hello,” He said to Spencer, bending down so he was at eye-level with her. “I’m Harry. What’s your name?”

     “I’m Spencer Lincoln Payne, and I’m five years old,” She said, reaching out a hand.

     Harry grinned and his eyes lit up as he took her hand and shook it politely. “It’s very nice to meet you, Spencer.”

     “How do you know my Uncle Louis?” She asked.

     “I’m going to be working with him this year,” Harry said.

     “Do you teach kids too?” She asked.

     “Not quite yet. I will soon, though,” Harry said, giving her his full attention, and Louis had never been more endeared.

     “Do you want to sit, mate?” Louis asked.

     “Please?” Spencer begged. “I want to play with the dog!”

     “Alright,” Harry laughed. He tied the end of the leash to the bench, and Spencer sat down, playing with the dog.

     “Your niece is absolutely adorable,” Harry said.

     “She’s actually my goddaughter. But yeah, I feel like her uncle. Hell, I feel like her second dad,” Louis said, shaking his head softly.

     “Is she your best friend’s kid?” Harry asked.

     Louis nodded. “I’ve been really close with both of her parents forever. Liam was eighteen and Sophia was seventeen when she got pregnant. They were both scared out of their minds, and I’d helped my mom raise my four younger sisters at the time, so I tried to encourage them to keep the baby. I promised I’d be there for them no matter what. It was hard for them, but looking back now, she’s the best things that’s happened to any of us.”

     Harry nodded. “I love kids. They’re so wonderful.”

     “Do you have any?” Louis asked, cringing at the awkward question.

     “No,” Harry laughed. “Not yet. Still waiting for my sister to make me an uncle, but that’s not happening any time soon.”

     Louis chuckled and nodded his head. “Spencer’s all I’ve got, as of right now. I’ve got six younger siblings though, so it’ll happen.”

     “Six! Wow,” Harry shook his head.

     “Well, actually seven, but I’ve never met my half sister on my biological dad’s side. Mum’s got two sets of twins though,” Louis said.

     “That’s fun,” Harry laughed.

     “Fun… Crazy, same thing,” Louis agreed.

     “That must be nice though. I’ve only got my older sister, and a stepbrother. I’d love to have a big family.”  
“Yeah, me too. It’s the best. Things are always crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

     Silence fell upon them, and it was just _nice_. Louis was normally one to hate silences; he always found them awkward, but as he sat there with Harry, watching Spencer play with the fluffy dog, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be.

     Louis’ phone rang some time later, dragging him from this state of happiness he was in. He pulled it out and cringed when he saw Liam’s name. “Hi, mate,” He answered.

     “Hey, where are you guys? Soph’s almost done with dinner,” Liam said.

     “Sorry, lost track of time. We’re leaving now,” Louis said, looking down at Spencer lying on the grass next to the now sleeping dog.

     “Cheers. See you in a bit,” Liam said before he hung up.

     “I’ve got to get Spence home,” Louis sighed.

     “Yeah, okay. This was nice,” Harry said as he got up and untied the leash. “Hatchi had a blast.”

     They both laughed at the sleeping dog. “Yeah, it was fun. Good to run in to you.”

     “I’ll see you at work, then,” Harry said.

     “Right. See you, mate,” Louis nodded.

     “Goodbye, Spencer! It was lovely to meet you,” Harry smiled.

     “You too, Mr. Harry! Thank you for letting my play with Hibachi,” She said.

     “Any time,” Harry grinned.

     “Bye, Harry,” Louis smiled, shaking his head as he took Spencer’s hand and led them away.

     “He’s very nice,” Spencer.

     “Yes, he is,” Louis agreed.

     “He’s very, very handsome too. Just like you,” Spencer said matter-of-factly.

     Louis blushed as he strapped Spencer into her car seat. “Yes, he is. And thank you, love.”

     She kissed his cheek just before he shut her door and got into the car, and drove them home.

     Louis walked through the door, carrying Spencer who was half-asleep. “Hi mummy,” She mumbled.

     “Hi, darling,” Sophia said, taking her from Louis. “Did you have fun?”

     Spencer nodded. “We had ice cream and I got to play with Mr. Harry’s dog,” She said.

     Liam raised his eyebrows at Louis, who pouted at Liam. “We ran into him at the park. We were eating our ice cream, and he came up and said hi. He was walking a friends dog.”

     Liam simply rolled his eyes and took Spencer’s shoes off, then took her from Sophia’s arms. “Dinner time, love. Let’s eat; then we can put on a movie for you to go to sleep to. How does that sound?”

     She nodded and got down to go wrap her arms around Louis’ legs. “Thanks, Uncle Louis. I love you.”

     Louis knelt down and wrapped her up in a tight hug. “I love you too, princess. I’ll see you soon.”

     “Still going to the beach next week? Last day of fun before you start teaching again?” Liam asked.

     “Absolutely,” Louis said, before he gave Sophia and Liam both a quick hug, and he went back to his house.

 

*

 

     He spent the next few days sleeping, trying to prepare for the coming months of less sleep, and attempting to come up with new ideas for shows they could potentially do.   When he got bored of that, he started sketching costumes, and humming songs in his head, all the while with Harry in the back of his mind.

     Almost a week after the park with Spencer, he was in the back seat of Liam’s car, with Sophia in the front and Spencer next to him. He spent the drive talking to her and getting excited about the day they had planned. Liam promised they’d go to the new Lego Land, and it didn’t surprise Louis that Liam seemed more excited than Spencer did. She just smiled and nodded, looking out the window as they drove by.

     They spent their morning with Liam and Spencer enthralled at Lego Land, while Sophia and Louis sat back and talked about how the fast the summer went, how Sophia was feeling, and how Louis planned on going through the school year with Harry.

     Eventually, Louis and Sophia were able to drag Liam away from Lego Land so they could get lunch on the pier, then go to the beach.

     Spencer showed her mother and uncle pictures of what they’d done and things they’d built inside, talking about everything her daddy let her do. Sophia rolled her eyes fondly at how Liam let his daughter do whatever she wanted, and Louis couldn’t fault him; he was the same way when it came to Spencer.

     After they had lunch, they let Spencer drag them over to the beach. They laid out their towels and umbrella, and Louis stripped his shirt off before Spencer grabbed his hand and pulled him to the beach. “Come on, Uncle Louis!” She said, dragging him into the water.

     “Alright, kid, be careful,” He said, sighing in content when the water washed over his feet.

     “Watch this!” Spencer grinned, dropping Louis’ hand and diving under the water.

     Louis’ heart stopped when she didn’t come up a few seconds later. “Spencer,” He said loudly, walking quickly through the water to where she went under. His breathing picked up and his panic level began to rise as he looked around the water and didn’t see her light brown hair anywhere. “Spencer!” He yelled, ignoring the looks he got from people around him.

     Louis felt something grab his leg and he turned to see Spencer surfacing from the water, laughing at him. “That was funny!” She giggled.

     “Spencer Lincoln Payne!” He exclaimed, “That was not funny!”

     “I’ve been taking swimming lessons, Uncle Louis! I can swim under water,” She said.

     “You should have told me that! I was scared to death, I thought-”

     “I’m sorry,” She said, wrapping her arms around his legs, finally apologetic.

     He sighed and wrapped his arms around her. “I just need to know where you are, okay?”

     She nodded and kissed his cheek before she dove back under the water.

     They played in the sun and the water until Louis was tired, and Spencer was exhausted. He carried her over to Sophia and placed her on her towel, before he laid on his own. “Where’s Liam?”

     “Playing volleyball,” She nodded over to a group of men playing nearby.

     Louis hummed noncommittally and closed his eyes, basking in the sun.

     He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he remembered was being hit in the head by a ball. “Ow! Fuck!” He groaned.

     “Watch your mouth!” Sophia scolded him.

     “Sorry, mate!” He heard from a familiar voice, and his head snapped up to see Harry running over to him.

     “Harry?” He asked.

     “Louis! Hi, mate, sorry, ball got away from us,” Harry said, grabbing the volleyball.

     “Alright, mate?” Liam laughed as he caught up to them.

     “Yeah,” Louis said. “You were playing volleyball with Liam?”

     Harry nodded. “You know each other?”

     Louis smiled and nodded. “My best mate. Spencer’s dad.”  

     “Oh, wow!” Harry grinned. “Mate, I met your daughter with Louis in the park the other day.”

     “ _You’re_ Harry!” Liam grinned.

     Louis gave him an evil eye and ignored him. “This is Sophia, Liam’s wife and Spencer’s mom. Soph, this is Harry.”

     “Hi!” She grinned. “Lovely to meet you.”

     “Mr. Harry!” Spencer shouted, jumping up from her towel behind Sophia and hugging Harry.

     “Hello, Spencer! Lovely to see you again. And to meet your parents!” Harry grinned.

     Louis watched fondly as Spencer started showing Harry her seashells, and Harry listened enthusiastically. He groaned as he looked over Harry’s body, tattoos littering his skin, fit and toned. He bit his tongue so he didn’t openly salivate at Harry’s body. “Mate, you’re staring,” Liam mumbled.

     Louis groaned and looked away. “He’s so fucking hot, Liam. What did I do to deserve this?”

     “What did you do to deserve an attractive man in your life who you get along great with, who you’ll be seeing almost every day? Hm, I don’t know mate, tough life,” Liam rolled his eyes.

     “Shut up,” Louis mumbled to him before he walked over and sat next to Spencer.

     “Uncle Louis, I’m showing Mr. Harry my seashells. Look, he let me put that one in his hair!” She grinned, pointing to a shell behind Harry’s ear.

     Harry smiled and looked over at Louis, flashing him a grin.

     Louis laughed and shook his head. “You look ridiculous, mate.”

     Harry pouted.

     “I think he looks pretty!” Spencer said.

     “Thank you, Spencer,” Harry beamed at her.

     “You’re welcome, Mr. Harry,” She said

     “Love, you don’t need to call me ‘Mr. Harry.’ Just ‘Harry’ is perfect,” He said.

     “Okay, Just Harry,” She nodded.

     Louis laughed and Harry shook his head. “Unfortunately, I have to go now. But it was wonderful running into you, Spencer.”

     “Will I get to see you again?” She asked.

     Louis jumped in before Harry could answer. “You’ll see him lots, babe. Harry is going to work with me at the school, so when mommy drops you off on Wednesday afternoons, you’ll see him there.”

     “Oh yay!” She clapped her hands. “Bye, Just Harry!”

     Harry laughed, “Goodbye, Spencer. Bye, Louis. I’ll see you Monday morning.”

     “Bye, Harry,” Louis waved.

     Liam came and sat down between Spencer and Louis. “It’s going to be a long year for you, mate.”

     “Tell me about it.”


	2. II

_Heeeeelppppp. I don’t know what to wear :(_

Louis read the text from Harry and laughed. It was the night before classes started and he was nervous and excited, just as he always was before the beginning of a new school year.

            He rolled his eyes fondly before he sent out a new text.

            _Something dressy and professional, but not too fancy ! You looked great in what you were wearing when we met at the school, try something like that ?_

He sent the text before he could over think the compliment.

            He laid in his bed in the dark, covers pulled up to his neck with his phone in his hand as he waited to hear back from Harry.

            _I’m nervous as hell :(_

He sighed and thought back on his first day student teaching before he sent a text back.

            _Turn that frown upside down, mister. It’ll be fun._

_Promise?_

_Pinky promise._

_Thanks, Louis._

_Night, curly. Get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning !_

_Night xx_

Louis fell asleep thinking about to little x’s at the end of Harry’s last text, thinking about how much he really would like to kiss him.

           

            At seven fifty-five the next morning, Louis was unlocking his classroom door with a hot cup of tea in his hands, helping him to wake up.

            “Morning,” He heard from down the hall.

            Louis’ breath caught in his throat when he turned to see Harry walking towards him, wearing dark jeans, a white scoop neck shirt and a blazer over it. “Hi,” He choked out, pushing his door open and allowing himself to take two deeps breaths before he turned on the light and Harry walked in. “How was your weekend?”

            “Good,” Harry nodded. “Been a bit nervous and hardly slept last night, but I’m so excited.”

            Louis smiled, “Can’t say I blame you. I was the same way.”

            “So what’s first?” Harry asked.

            Louis sighed and put his bag and drink down at his desk. “We don’t have a class first period, which is nice if you’re ever running late or anything. So I usually make sure the room is clean and ready to go. Sometimes I’ll have their music ready for them. So if you want to help me get the chairs set up?”

            Harry nodded, “Absolutely.”

            A few minutes later, the bell rang to signal the start of their first class; Harry and Louis finished setting up the chairs on the risers and Louis went to sit behind the piano, while Harry sat at the desk.

            He smiled as he played a few bars. “It feels just like home, being back here in my class room, behind my piano.”

            He glanced up to meet Harry’s eyes, only to find Harry smiling at him, eyes practically shining. “You look comfortable.”

            Louis smiled and played a few more bars before he dropped his hand, embarrassed. “Anyway. When our first class gets here, I’ll introduce them to you and we’ll just figure things out from there.”

            “Sounds good,” Harry smiled.

            They sat and talked about themselves, getting to know each other a bit better before their first class started. Louis talked about all of his little siblings, and how Liam, Sophia and Spencer became such a big part of his life.

            Harry talked about his sister, his mum and step dad, and how close he was with them. He talked about how he loved singing, but didn’t want to make a career of it professionally. Having a family was too important to him, and he wanted to have a normal life, which is why he decided on being a show choir teacher. He could do the singing and performing aspect that he loved, without it being too much.

            Louis agreed with him and they found comfort in the fact that they were so similar.

            When the bell rang to signal the end of the first class, Louis stood up and grinned. “Ready?”

            “As I’ll ever be,” Harry nodded, following Louis to the classroom door. He opened it and Harry followed him as the stood outside in the hallway. The hallway was full of teenagers, buzzing with chatter. Louis smiled at the familiarity of it all.

            “Mr. Tomlinson!” Louis heard, turning his head to the familiar voice.

            “Gunnar!” Louis grinned. The tall, awkward looking boy walked up to him, glasses lopsided and acne dotting his face. He grinned when he saw Louis. “How was your summer break?”

            His face fell a bit, though he kept smiling at Louis as he shrugged. “I’m glad to be back.”

            Louis’ smile fell as clapped Gunnar on the back. “Go take a seat. We’ll talk after school today, yeah?”

            Gunnar nodded and glanced at Harry, throwing him a smile before he walked inside of the classroom.

            Louis sighed as he talked to Harry under his breath. “One of the best kid’s I’ve been able to know these past few years. He goes through so much shit and he doesn’t deserve it.”

            “Like what?” Harry asked, eyebrows furrowed.

            “He gets bullied at school, and his parents fight a lot at home. He has to take care of his younger sister, but his stepdad is awful to him. I try to be there for him as much as I can,” Louis said, just as a few more students greeted him and walked inside. “He’s insanely talented though; one of the best voices in the school. I’m hoping to convince him of that this year and get him to solo.”

            Harry smiled at him softly. “He’s lucky to have you.”

            Louis blushed, and was thankfully saved by another familiar voice calling his name. “Hi, Mr. Tomlinson!”

            Louis let out a familiar sigh and turned to see a girl walking towards him. “Hello, Lillian,” He smiled.

            “How was your summer hols?” She asked, flipping her dark hair behind her shoulder.

            Louis bit the inside of his lip, trying not to laugh. “Wonderful. How were yours?”

            “Great!” She smiled.

            “Go take a seat, we’ll be in there in just a few,” He said, nodding his head towards the door.

            She walked in and Louis rolled his eyes and let out a soft sigh. “She’s been shamelessly flirting with me for three years. I knew I should have come out to them right from the start,” He laughed.

            Harry let out a loud, surprised laugh. “Bit awkward to have a student crushing on you, no?”

            “You’ve no idea, mate,” Louis laughed.

            The students trickled in until the bell rang to signal the start of class, and Louis and Harry walked inside.

            “Hello,” Louis greeted them. “Nice to see you all again. How was your summer break?”

            They all answered with smiles and nods.

            “Brilliant. First, let me introduce you all to Mr. Styles, here. He’ll be with us this year, doing his student teaching,” Louis said.

            “Hi,” Harry smiled and waved at them all.

            “He’ll be involved with our productions, and he’ll take over towards the end of the year,” Louis said. “Alright, now all of you are advanced so you’ve been through this before; split up into your sections. Altos at the bottom left, Sopranos top left. Bass at the bottom right and Tenor’s at the top right.”

            Most of them were sitting where they needed to be, but Louis gave them time for the others to move and get situated on the risers. “Alright, let’s have some fun. Who has a song they want to sing?” Louis asked.

            Hands shot up in the air immediately. “Riley?” Louis asked.

            “ABC!” She grinned.

            “I knew you’d say that,” Louis grinned, shaking his head and going over to the piano, playing the notes with one hand and leading the group as they sang.

            They laughed and sang together, all familiar with each other and the notes they were responsible for. They harmonized and clapped as Louis played the music, smiling up at Harry who was clapping along.

            When the song died out, any tension and nerves in the room were gone. Singing brought a connection between them all. It was something they loved and worked hard at. It was a common ground.

            “Lillian, pick a song,” Louis smiled.

            “Oh Sherrie,” She grinned.

            “Steve Perry,” Louis sighed. “Wonderful choice.”

            “Love this song,” Harry grinned.

            Louis smiled up at him as he played some notes on the piano and the room broke out into song again. They continued like that, Louis asking for songs and the group spontaneously singing it together. They sounded great, harmonizing and bouncing notes off each other, clearly proving that they were one of the best in the country.

            “Gunnar,” Louis said, towards the end of the class. “Pick a song.”

            He hadn’t said a word the whole class, just sang when they picked songs. Gunnar cleared his throat and bit his bottom lip for a minute before he spoke.

            “Summer Nights?” He asked.

            “Yes!” Louis cheered. “Best movie ever made. Tenors, you’re Danny. Sopranos, you’re Sandy. Bass, you’re the boys and altos you’re the girls.”

            “One of my favorite movies,” Harry grinned.

            “Sing with us!” Louis said as he played the opening notes.

            They started out and Louis completely lost himself in the song, listening to some of his favorite voices sing one of his favorite songs. This was heaven to him; this was his comfort zone and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

            The rest of the day went nearly the same way. Students Louis recognized came in for class, and they sang songs together for the fun of it. The last class was empty, waiting for auditions over the weekend before Louis, with Harry’s help, would fill the class.

            “Well?” Louis asked.

            “This is incredible,” Harry grinned. “I had so much fun.”

            “Good,” Louis smiled. “I’m going to hang around for a bit and see if Gunnar stops by, but you’re free to go.”

            “Yeah, okay,” Harry nodded, grabbing his things. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            “Bye, Harry,” Louis smiled.

            Louis spent his time cleaning up the room, putting the chairs back in order and making sure the room was ready to go for tomorrow. When he was finished, he sat behind his desk, playing a game on his computer until the last bell rang. He listened to the kids talking in the hallway, until he heard his name at the door.

            “Mr. Tomlinson?”

            He looked up to see Gunnar standing there. “I was hoping you’d stop by. Come in!” Gunnar walked in and Louis closed the door so it was just cracked open, as he sat at his desk and Gunnar sat in the front row. “How was your summer?”

            Gunnar shrugged and sighed. “My mom finally filed for divorce from my stepdad.”

            “That’s… well, that’s honestly really good. But I know it can be tough too,” Louis said carefully.

            Gunnar nodded. “My sister is having a harder time dealing with it. I’m glad to have him gone, it’s just… Mum is so depressed. She hardly goes to work and now I have to take care of Lydia and it’s just a lot.”

            “Has she seen a counselor or anything?” Louis asked.

            “I don’t think so. Jack is still paying for the house and stuff, it’s just hard for me to try to get uni applications done when Lydia needs help with homework and mum won’t help,” Gunnar said.

            “Why don’t you bring some to school this week and I’ll help you. Or you can at least have some private time to get them done here. As for your mum, this is hard for her. Let her know that you and Lydia are still there and you need her. If she doesn’t get it together soon, let me know. We’ll take care of you and Lydia,” Louis promised.

            Gunnar sighed and nodded. “Thanks, Mr. Tomlinson.”

            “Any time. You know I’m always here for you,” Louis said.

            He nodded. “I know. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

            Louis waved as Gunnar left. He gave himself a moment to think about what he would need to do, in order for the school system to be made aware of Gunnar and Lydia’s mom. If this continued and she didn’t take care of her kids, Louis would need to make sure something changed quickly. He hoped it wouldn’t get that far.

            He sighed and locked up his classroom before he left the building and drove home, spending the night alone, eating take out and watching reruns of Friends.

 

            The first week of school passed pretty much the same way. Harry would meet Louis in the classroom and they would talk through their free first period, then they would joke and mess around while singing with their students.

            By the end of the day on Friday, Louis could tell Harry was much more comfortable and relaxed. He didn’t seem stressed or nervous, and he was eager to join in and have fun with the class. His voice was beautiful and Louis went a bit weak in the knees whenever Harry sang particularly loud, but he thought he did his best at ignoring that feeling.

            “You’re coming to auditions tomorrow, right?” Louis asked.

            “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Harry grinned.

            “Good,” Louis smiled. “I’m glad I won’t be here alone. They start at 10:00, so meet me here at 9:30?”

            “Perfect. Have a good night, Lou,” Harry smiled, waving at Louis before he left the classroom.

            Louis groaned as he left and collapsed in his desk chair, dialing Liam’s number.

            “Hi Louis,” Liam answered.

            “Liam,” Louis whined, dragging Liam’s name out.

            “What’s wrong?” Liam asked.

            “Harry’s what’s wrong,” Louis sighed. “He’s so perfect, Li. And he’s so lovely and wonderful and he’s got an amazing voice and he’s so good with the kids and it’s literally been one week and I don’t know how I’m going to do this.”

            Liam laughed and let Louis rant.

            “And like he has this laugh, and it’s so loud and obnoxious but he laughs at my jokes all the time and it’s the most fucking adorable thing ever. Liam, help me,” Louis cried.

            “Mate pull yourself together,” Liam laughed. “I’m serious, you need to go out and pull this weekend. Forget about Harry. That’s dangerous territory.”

            “I know,” Louis sighed dramatically. “I want to have his babies.”

            “Louis,” Liam chastised and Louis could practically see him rolling his eyes through the phone.

            “Liam.”

            “I’m hanging up now,” Liam said.

            “Give Spencer a hug for me and tell her I love her!” Louis rushed out before Liam hung up.

            “Alright. Bye, wanker,” Liam said before he ended the call.

            Louis groaned and walked over to the auditorium where he made sure the sound and lights were both working, to avoid any potential problems tomorrow. 

            When he felt fully confident that everything was set up and it would all run well, he went back to his classroom to grab his bag, and he locked the door before making his way back to his flat.

            He spent his Friday night going over his class plans and going to bed early, trying to ignore the excitement he felt that he’d be seeing Harry again tomorrow.

 

            At 9:30 on Saturday morning, Louis looked up when the auditorium door opened and smiled when he saw Harry. “Morning,” He greeted.

            “Hi,” Harry smiled. “How was your night?”

            “It was alright, yeah. Early evening. Not much to do,” Louis said. “Yours?”

            “Yeah, I had an early night as well. Can’t complain,” Harry smiled.

            “Good,” Louis grinned. “Okay, so I have a list of everyone who has signed up, and I’m expecting more will just show up. So they’ll come up and sing whatever they want for us, and we’ll make notes, and post a list of everyone who has made it on Monday. Usually I do it by myself, but I’m glad to have you here to help. Sometimes I second guess myself and worry I let a good one go.”

            Harry smiled and shook his head. “I’m sure you have great judgment. I’m excited though.”

            “Good. Here, I made you a copy as well, so you can take notes or whatever. Gunnar should be here soon to work the sound and lights for us,” Louis said.

            “He likes helping out with this sort of thing?” Harry asked.

            Louis nodded. “It’s an excuse for him to get out of the house on the weekend.”

            “I think it’s great that you care about him so much,” Harry smiled, ducking his head down.

            Louis shrugged and bit his bottom lip, before he sat in one of the chairs. “He reminds me of myself, when I was younger. I really feel for him.”

            “Did you, um, have it rough at home too?” Harry asked, sitting in the seat next to Louis. “Sorry, that was really personal. You don’t have to answer.”

            “No, it’s fine,” Louis said, looking down at the floor. “My mum kind of goes through guys quickly. It was just her and I when I was really young. Then she married Mark and had my four little sisters, and things were really great for a while. Mark adopted me, I took his last name, and he was the dad I never had. I grew up with a pretty good family. But like, when I turned sixteen, they started fighting a lot and I had to take care of the girls. That was also when I conveniently realized that I most definitely did not like girls. So I hid that for a while. I didn’t want to add any stress to mum and Mark. They filed for divorce when I was eighteen; I found out on the night I cried and told Mark that I was gay. He hugged me and told me he’d always love me, and he’d always be my dad. He helped me tell mum, even though things weren’t so great with them. When I was twenty-two, I was already almost done with school, and mum married Dan, and they had my youngest set of siblings, the younger twins. Shit, that’s a whole lot more than you asked,” Louis laughed. “Gunnar is just really, really similar to me.”

            “No, hey, I think that’s great that you’re there for him. And I think you’re amazingly strong for growing up like that, and becoming who you are today. That’s incredible. My parents divorced when I was really little, but my mum and dad were still both there for us and it was pretty easy. My mum was with my stepdad for a long time before they got married again. I’ve only got one older sister though, so it was a completely different when I came out to them. They didn’t even bat an eye,” Harry smiled.

            Louis was about to respond, when the door opened and Gunnar walked in. “Hi, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Styles!”

            “Morning, Gunnar!” Harry grinned.

            “Morning,” Louis smiled, tossing a key over to Gunnar. “Go ahead.” Gunnar smiled and took the key to unlock the booth, and walk up the stairs. “He loves it up there,” Louis said softly. “He’s really good with the lights and everything.”  
            “I bet,” Harry smiled.

            “We should go sit up front. People will start showing up soon,” Louis said, standing up and leading Harry to the second row. “Just a fair warning, it get’s a bit brutal. Some of these poor kids really can’t sing.”

            Harry laughed, loud and free, and it was a beautiful sound. “I’m ready for it.”

 

*

            The auditorium door shut, and Louis let out a loud sigh he’d been holding in. “Well _that_ was a long day,” He mumbled.

            “Yeah, really,” Harry agreed, helping Louis pick up the papers they’d both taken notes on and the empty water bottles.

            Gunnar came down from the sound booth and gave Louis the key. “Thanks,” Louis smiled. “See you Monday?”

            “Yeah,” Gunnar nodded, waving at Harry before he left.

            “Do you maybe want to go grab something to eat? I’m starving,” Harry said.

            “Absolutely,” Louis agreed. “We can share notes and make the final list.”

            “Perfect.”

            They walked out to their cars together in comfortable silence, both drained from the long day of auditions. “Where do you want to go?” Louis asked.

            “There’s this little café just a few blocks from my house, if you want to go there?” Harry asked.

            “Sounds great. Lead the way,” Louis said.

            Louis followed Harry to the café, telling himself that this was not a date, and it didn’t mean anything, even if his mind was on a loop of _Harry is gay Harry is gay Harry likes boys Harry is gay_.

            He parked his car next to Harry’s, and they went inside together, finding a small seat in the back.

            “Hello, Harry,” The waitress greeted them.

            “Hi Kathy,” Harry smiled.

            “What can I get you guys to drink?” She asked.

            “Tea, please,” Louis smiled.

            “Water, thanks,” Harry said before she walked away.

            “Come here often, do you?” Louis asked.

            Harry shrugged. “It’s close to my flat, and I would come here to get school work done. Kinda became a regular.”

            “It’s nice,” Louis smiled.

            Harry hummed in affirmation. “Almost like home away from home.”

            Louis smiled at him, then looked at the menu before the waitress brought their drinks back. They were quick to order their meals, and get to work.

            “Let’s just go through each person in order, and say what we have written down about them?” Louis asked.

            “Sounds good,” Harry said, looking at his pages of notes.

            They sat and talked for over an hour, discussing each person that auditioned, and the notes they’d taken. Louis was pleased to find that they agreed on nearly every single person, and whether they should go through or not. There was one kid Louis was questionable about, but Harry convinced him to add the young boy. Louis found he trusted Harry’s opinion a lot more than he thought he would.

            As they sat, picking at the leftovers of their meals, the conversation strayed from school to Spencer, and how well she had taken to Harry. They talked more about their families, and their schooling, and Louis couldn’t ignore the warm feeling when he thought of how well they got along, and how easy the conversation went between them. He definitely did _not_ keep track of how many times (six) he made Harry laugh, loud and free and so beautiful, in the span of two hours. He’d never been more proud.

            “It’s getting late,” Harry finally sighed, and Louis looked outside, surprised to see that it was dark.

            “Wow, I had no idea,” He said.

            “Me neither,” Harry smiled.

            “Here,” Louis said, grabbing the check. “It’s on me.”

            “I can pay for myself,” Harry argued.

            Louis shook his head. “You’re technically still a uni student, and you’re not getting paid right now. I am. And you helped me with my job, so I’ve got it.”

            Harry shook his head but smiled and gave in. “Thanks.”

            “Not a problem,” Louis smiled, paying for the bill, before he walked with Harry out to his car, and his chest clenched a bit when he realized he wouldn’t see Harry tomorrow. Which was _ridiculous._ He shook the feeling away quickly. “See you Monday.”

            Harry nodded and smiled softly, before he waved. “Bye, Louis.”

            Louis got in his car and groaned loudly, before he made his way back to his flat and spent his time trying desperately not to think about Harry.

            He failed miserably.


	3. III

The first month of school passed quickly, as Louis’ life fell back into routine. It should have scared him how quickly Harry became a regular part of his life, but really, it was just comforting. Everything in his life was going so well and he was so truly happy, that he couldn’t even worry about it.

            Monday mornings because something he looked forward to, rather than he dreaded; seeing Harry made him feel at ease. They got along as well as Louis did with Liam, which he told Liam was crazy, how their friendship of one month was as comfortable as his twenty year long relationship with Liam. He learned not to complain about it, and just to enjoy it. The fact that Harry was maybe ( _definitely_ ) flirting back with him was something he ignored. He most definitely did not think about having Harry spread out beneath him, voice going hoarse and needy with want, begging Louis for _more_. Shit, he was so fucked.

            As he sat at his desk, watching Harry biting his bottom lip while he was going through the sheet music, Louis shook his head and forced himself to stop thinking about Harry in any other way. While their friendship was real, their relationship couldn’t be anything more than a professional one. Louis was not about to lose his job over it.

            “Hey, what about this one?” Harry asked, pulling Louis from his thoughts.

            Louis walked over to see what song Harry had pulled. They were trying to fill in a gap for the winter concert; Louis had most of the music planned out for their “Lets Dance” theme, he just felt he needed to find a song to fill the gap between Dance Dance and Uptown Funk. Harry showed him the music for Dancing Queen. “Excellent choice,” He grinned. “We haven’t done this since I performed here.”

            “Oh I would have loved to see that,” Harry grinned. “This was probably your theme song.”

            “Oi!” Louis hit his arm. “ABBA is classic.”

            “Wouldn’t dream of saying otherwise,” Harry grinned.

            “Watch who you’re making fun of, Styles. I can end you,” Louis said, attempting to sound threatening, but it came out too fond for Harry to take him seriously.

            Harry shook his head, grinning as he kept going through the box of sheet music.

            “Hi Uncle Louis,” Louis heard from the door, smiling when Spencer and Sophia walked in. “Hi Just Harry.”

            “Hi, love,” Louis smiled.

            “Hello Spencer,” Harry grinned. “How was school?”

            “It was good! My teacher gave me the gold star today,” She grinned proudly.

            “That’s great, love,” Harry smiled at her.

            “I’ll see you in a few hours, alright babe?” Sophia said.

            “Bye mommy,” Spencer said, giving Sophia a hug. “I love you.”

            “Love you too, princess,” Sophia smiled, kissing Spencer on the top of her head, before she left.

            “Uncle Louis, can I draw on your chalkboard?” Spencer asked.

            “Of course,” He smiled, grabbing the chalk from his door and giving it to her.

            She set to work, drawing a picture of flowers, and something he thought was supposed to be a dog.

            Harry watched her with a soft smile on his face. He’d bonded with Spencer over the last few weeks, looking forward to Wednesday afternoons when Sophia dropped her off, so she could get her errands done while Louis got special time with Spencer.

            “Just Harry?” She asked.

            Harry chuckled softly, just as he always did when Spencer called him ‘Just Harry.’ “Yes?”

            “How do you spell your name?” She asked.

            “H. A. R. R. Y.” He smiled.

            She drew the letters, lines rough and letters different sizes, but she was proud of herself. “Uncle Louis?” She asked.

            “Yes, love?”

            “What is a deforce?” She asked.

            “A what?” He asked.

            “A deforce! My friend Maggie said her parents were getting a deforce,” She explained.

            “It’s called a divorce, babe,” He said.

            “She’s really sad about it. She said her mommy and daddy won’t live together anymore and they don’t love each other. Does that mean they don’t love her?” She asked.

            “No, babe, that’s not what it means,” Louis shook his head. “Come here.” She walked over and Louis sat her on his lap. “A divorce is very sad. But just because her mommy and daddy don’t love each other anymore, doesn’t mean they don’t love her.”

            “Does that happen to everyone? Will my mommy and daddy get divorced?” She asked.

            Louis shook his head adamantly. “Absolutely not. It only happens to some people. Your mommy and daddy love each other so much, Spencer. You’ve got nothing to worry about, okay?”

            She nodded and sat there for a minute, before she got down and went back to the chalkboard. Louis sighed and looked up to see Harry watching him intently. “Okay?” He mouthed.

            Louis nodded and mouthed, “Thanks” back.

            Harry smiled and looked back down to keep going through sheet music.

            Louis finished cleaning up the room and grading an assignment he had the kids do, before he looked over at Harry who had a stack of music. “Hey, so I guess we’ll go through it all tomorrow morning and we’ll see what the kids want to do and hopefully we’ll figure it out by the end of the week, yeah?” Louis asked.

            Harry nodded. “Sounds good!”

            “Bye, Just Harry! I’ll see you next week,” Spencer said, going up to give him a hug.

            Harry grinned and bent down to give her a proper hug. “Goodbye, Spencer.”

            Louis smiled at them until they were done having their moment, and Harry left. “You ready to go, love?” He asked.

            Spencer smiled and nodded, taking Louis’ hand as he turned off the light and shut the classroom door. “Where should we go today?” He asked.

            “Can we please go to the new play place at the mall?” She asked.

            “Sounds like a great plan,” He said.

 

*

 

The weeks passed in routine. Louis and Harry came up with a set list that the choir was really excited about. They practiced the songs over and over, trying different sequences to see which songs flowed better together than others did.

The beginning of December came around, and Louis found himself laughing with Harry in a bar, late on a Friday night. They’d worked late, trying to perfect the choreography for the show that was just two weeks away, and Harry had suggested they get something to drink. It didn’t even cross Louis’ mind to refuse him.

Now they were two hours in, and they’d had too many drinks to count. Harry was laughing at something stupid Louis had said, and Louis grinned, all too pleased with himself. Louis had always been a handsy drunk, and by the way Harry preened every time Louis touched his arm or his leg, Louis figured he didn’t mind.

It had been such a long time since he’d done this. He tried to focus on his job and being a part of Liam and Sophia’s little family, that he’d given up parts of his own life he didn’t realized. He didn’t go out with his friends any more, and he didn’t let loose and have a good time. Tonight however, was different. Being with Harry made him feel free and light and happy. The drinks were effortless and the conversation was more than welcome.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Harry raised an eyebrow, and he realized he missed something Harry said. “Sorry, what was that?” He asked.

“I asked if you maybe wanted to dance?” Harry asked, biting his bottom lip.

Louis nodded and grabbed Harry’s hand before he even had the chance to think it through and tell himself it wasn’t a good idea. He led Harry to the middle of the dance floor and closed his eyes in content when Harry wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist. Louis instinctively wrapped his hands around the back of Harry’s neck and held him close as they swayed together to the beat of the music. Alcohol ran through his veins, making Louis feel like he was high, drunk off an intoxicating mixture of vodka and Harry.

Harry groaned, tilting his head down to rest on Louis’ shoulder. “Lou,” He mumbled softly.

Louis hummed in response, letting his fingers play with the hair at the base of Harry’s neck. Harry groaned louder, and Louis tugged experimentally. Harry gasped in his ear and rolled his hips forward, grinding against Louis. “Shit,” Louis panted. “Harry.”

“Louis,” Harry whined again. As the music changed to something slower and sexier, Harry gripped Louis’ waist tighter and rocked their bodies together, not leaving an inch of space between them. Louis kept his hands in Harry’s hair, face tucked into the side of Harry’s neck.

“H,” Louis said, voice shaky.

“Want you,” Harry pleaded.

“Fuck, Harry, we’re drunk,” Louis reasoned. “Not a good idea. Work, things- we can’t.”

“Please,” Harry pleaded, letting his lips trace down Louis’ neck.

Louis shivered and pulled Harry’s hair tightly, pulling his head away. “Harry, I am so fucking pissed right now but I know this isn’t a good idea.” Harry groaned and dipped his head back, finally meeting Louis’ eyes. His pupils were wide and his eyes were red, pleading. “Shit. No- I have to go,” Louis said, untangling himself from Harry and heading to the door.

He hailed the first cab that he saw, and rattled off his address, not even looking at the club door for Harry. He spent the car ride trying to calm his breathing, willing his obscene hard on to go down a bit. His mind did nothing to help, thinking of Harry’s hands on his hips, Harry’s lips on his neck, and Harry’s hard cock pressed against his through two layers of jeans.

The cab pulled up to his house and Louis threw money at him before he nearly ran inside. He made it to his bed quickly, pushing his jeans down to his hips and rubbing himself through his boxers.

He could still feel the ghost of Harry’s hands gripping his hips. He focused on that, and the trace of Harry’s lips on his neck and he pulled his cock out and worked his hand over himself quickly. He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, throwing his head back as he quickly pumped his hand over his dick, pre-cum slicking this hand. “Harry,” He gasped, using his free hand to tweak one of his nipples. He thought of how responsive Harry had been when Louis’ tugged on his hair, the way he moaned softly. “Fuck, Harry,” Louis cried as he spilled over himself, white strands painting his fist and his stomach.

He nearly blacked out with the force of his orgasm, body shaking with pleasure as he came down from his high. He absentmindedly wiped his hand on the sheets while he caught his breath. “Fuck,” He cursed, shaking his head.

After lying there for a few more minutes and feeling disgusted with himself, Louis got up and went in his bathroom to take a long hot shower.

*

Louis was dreading gong to class on Monday. He wasn’t sure how drunk Harry was, what he remembered, or how he was feeling. He’d turned Harry down, something he’d been kicking himself about all weekend, but it as the right thing to do. He and Harry worked together, teaching at a school for fucks sake. Sex could not be something that happened between them.

He got to class early, putting together binders of music for the kids. Harry walked in just minutes later. “Hey,” Louis greeted.

“Hi,” Harry mumbled.

“Harry, I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. It’s just- fuck, we work together, not matter how much we might want to, we can’t, we just-”

“No, Lou, I know,” Harry cut him off. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have pushed it. You’re right.” 

“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not because I didn’t want to, trust me,” Louis said.

Harry smiled and shook his head, “It’s okay. Do you want help putting the binders together?”

Louis nodded, and that was the end of their discussion.

The next few weeks were spent with Louis and Harry coming up with choreography, and teaching it to the students. Their friendship only grew, as did the sexual tension between them, but Louis was able to keep it in the back of his mind. The show was creeping up quickly, and Louis had to get costumes figured out, and he had to run through dress rehearsals with the students.

“Think they’re ready?” Louis asked Harry.

Harry grinned and nodded. “It’ll be great.”


End file.
